4 Tips For Choosing an Accident Lawyer
Data shows that there are more than 51,000 personal injury law firms in the United States. Particularly, New York ranks among the top five states with the largest number of attorneys. With this being the case, choosing the right lawyer to handle your accident claim can feel like a challenge. To make your job easier, we have compiled a list of four factors you should consider while choosing a New York accident lawyer to handle your claim.
Experience Handling Personal Injury Cases
This is by far the most important factor you should consider when choosing a New York accident lawyer. Theoretically, any qualified lawyer can handle any kind of personal injury claim, but is that really what you want? Many lawyers tend to focus on and specialize in specific types of claims – depending on their strengths and weaknesses. With that said, you need to make sure that the lawyer you choose has vast experience in handling claims similar to yours. Be sure to ask this important question—what is your experience winning cases similar to mine?
Ability and Preparedness to Go to Trial
More than 95% of tort claims filed in the US are resolved through negotiation or mediation. Given this fact, not all personal injury lawyers might have the necessary trial experience to litigate a case if needed.
Being represented by a lawyer who lacks trial experience can be a huge disadvantage, as your lawyer might be hesitant to take the fight to the at-fault party and negotiate aggressively with the claims adjuster. Moreover, the insurance company might try to bully you around, knowing that your lawyer is unlikely to take the case to trial.
As a result, you might be left with no choice but to accept a low settlement offer. So, choosing a lawyer who has sufficient trial experience is vital in order to have the negotiating leverage.
A Proven Track Record of Settlements and Verdicts
Find out if the lawyer has a track record of recovering substantial damages for their clients. If you have suffered serious injuries and if your earning capacity has been severely affected, you might be eligible to recover a substantial amount of compensation – assuming you are in your prime earning years. Based on this, you need to choose a lawyer who has what it takes to negotiate or litigate aggressively and recover the damages you deserve.
You can visit the lawyer’s website and take a look at their track record of recovering compensation for their clients. Also, you can find out whether the lawyer is part of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, whose membership is restricted to lawyers who have won multi-million dollar settlements and jury awards.
Professional Credentials and Ratings
Choosing a lawyer who is highly rated by their peers as well as clients is a good idea, as they have a reputation to maintain and might be willing to go the extra mile to achieve the best possible outcome in each and every case they take on.
Choose a New York Accident Lawyer with a Track Record of Multi-Million Dollar Settlements and Verdicts
At the Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff, we take immense pride in the fact that we not only take on complicated cases regularly, but also manage to recover more compensation for our clients than most of our peers can. Our goal is always to get you the most money possible as quickly as possible.
Our founder – Michael S. Lamonsoff – is one of the best personal injury lawyers in New York and is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Under his leadership and guidance, our firm has recovered more than 500 million dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients.
To find out how we can help you with your claim, call our firm today at 212-962-1020 or contact us online and schedule a free consultation with an experienced New York accident lawyer.